Page 97 of Dare To Free Us
I heard her words and wanted them to work but it was so hard. “But why? Why did all this have to happen? I want to understand. I want to know what purpose it served for us to be ripped apart and Matteo trying to die in my arms!” I was angry because it was the only emotion I hadn’t tapped into the reserves yet. I experienced every miserable emotion the past two weeks waiting for Matteo but anger was the only thing left in the tank.
Becka looked at me, her helpless eyes filled with sorrow. But in true Becka form she didn’t sugar coat or shy away from brutal honesty. “I don’t know,” she answered, and I saw it hurt her just to say it, knowing there was no comfort in it.
“I do,” I strong male voice said over my shoulder. All the air got rushed from my lungs. Becka’s eyes widened as she looked up behind me.
I didn’t move. I became frozen, not knowing if I’d been dreaming this whole time or if I’d truly gone off the deep end and imagined his voice. But if it was just my imagination then Becka and I were having the same hallucination.
I spun in the sand and craned my neck to look up at the tall presence. I coughed with the amount of emotion clogging up my lungs, the shock making me unable to move.
A beautiful smile spread across Matteo’s handsome face. The white, loosely buttoned shirt he wore reflected the sun into my eyes, his curly hair blowing across his brow in the breeze. “Hey, Beautiful.”
The sound of my nickname sent me springing out of the sand like a cat just as Matteo leaned down to pull me up. I wrapped myself around him like an octopus and squeezed until my muscles burned. Matteo answered with a grunt and put his arms around me, burying his face in my neck.
“Are you real?” I whispered into his neck, as his breathing shuddered. Everything inside me was exploding into tiny sparkles, as my heart pulsed hard enough to bruise my ribs. He felt real, sounded real, but there was still a frightening chance I was dreaming.
“I’m real. And I’m never leaving you again. You, or our child.” Matteo slid a hand between us and rested it against my belly.
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I have no doubt. I love you,” he breathed.
“I love you,” I answered back, tightening my arms around his neck, wanting to crawl inside of him and make it impossible to become separated ever again.
Matteo hugged me patiently.
After a long moment I allowed my heart to believe what my brain was already telling me. Matteo was real, it was no dream. “What is it?” I asked, remembering the first words he’d spoken.
Matteo pulled back so he could look me in the eye. Suddenly I noticed how his face was pinched in pain and kicked myself for not remembering his injuries. I leapt off on him and pushed away slightly but he grabbed me and pulled me into his chest.
“Matteo, you’re still hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he said casually. “What did you just ask me?”
I opened my mouth to argue it wasn’t a big deal, but he knew me too well and shot me a quirked eyebrow. I huffed out a breath. “You said, ‘I do’ when I asked what was the reason for all this.”
His smile widened and I felt the way he was getting excited about telling me. “Because, Beautiful, we are free.”
My eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”
“I’m out, Arianna. I left everything behind. We can go where we want, live where we want. Our children can be who they want. There is no more Russo crime family in Boston. There is no more mafia life for us. We. Are. Free.”
Happy tears formed in my eyes. It’s all I asked him for and more. I molded myself against him and dug my fingers into his back. I was so happy I didn’t even know what to do. I was in shock, in a good way. I was too happy about him being alive to get mad about him just showing up and not being able to make a call.
We’re free.
“Now for fuck’s sake, look at me so I can kiss you,” he growled.
I tilted my head up and Matteo’s lips were on mine before I could take a breath. The kiss was wild and all consuming. Matteo took my mouth and devoured me like— well, like he thought he never would again.
“I think Becka and I are going to take a walk,” Luca said somewhere off to the side, a smile in his voice. I hadn’t even known he was standing there, but of course a hurricane could have been happening around me and I wouldn’t have known.
Matteo was kissing me, holding me, and igniting an inferno in my body so strong I imagined my dress combusting into flames. Matteo groaned against my mouth and in one swift movement leaned down to grip my ass with both hands, hauling me up to wrap my legs around his torso.
“Matteo, you’re still in pain,” I squealed, trying to push away.
“Worth it,” he said, stalking back towards the house. “I’m going to take you inside and make love to you. Slowly. Savor every bit of you that I thought I’d never feel or taste again.” There was a shakiness to his voice that spoke of what he’d endured the last two weeks as well. “Then I’m going to fuck you hard and dirty, just the way you like it.” His voice turned smoky with lust.
“Are you sure you’re up for that?” I asked with concern. I didn’t know the extent of his injuries. As much as his words were already getting my panties wet I didn’t want Matteo to hurt himself.